weeklyroundup

I can’t speak for all families, but mine has a lot of weird old wives tales and superstitions, one of which involves giving the gift of shoes.

It states that if you ever give anyone a pair of shoes, they’re supposed to give you something in return; otherwise, well, let’s just say it’s bad for the relationship.

I have no idea where this one comes from, but I do know that one of my college roommates had heard of it, too. Once after giving me a pair of boots as a gift, she even reminded me, “Don’t forget to give me something back,” and suggested a penny. I loved the boots so much that I forgot about the penny and the superstition. A year later, after a huge argument, she moved out, and we haven’t spoken since.

Years have passed since the last time I received the gift of shoes, and over that time I’ve kept all of my close relationships intact. Coincidence? Hmm… 🙂

Of course, I love shoes and sometimes get myself a pair for Christmas, but when I do, as silly as it sounds, I always pay myself a penny in return, just in case (because you never know).

This year my Santa self gave me these leopard print Sam Edelman Lylas, which I found on sale online at Dillard’s.

Observe the possessive tabby in the pictures… As you can see, he has already claimed the shoes as his own.

I suspect that he believes they’re another cat.

FLASH — In breaking makeup monster news, a gang of despicable (yet somewhat cute) creatures was spotted this morning outside a Sephora store. Witnesses heard one of them roar, “Rawr! Open! Open! Monster need makeup!”

Details are sketchy, but it doesn’t look like any makeup was harmed…

THE MAKEUP MONSTERS: “MERRY CHRISTMAS, RAWR!”

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

• An affordable $11 wrinkle reducer — Bella Sugar
• This homemade coconut citrus body scrub sounds good enough to eat — Evolution You
• “Things my grandmother never told me” cracks me up — Behance
• How to deal with dream zappers — Mars Create & Conquer
• Have a merry berry Christmas with YSL’s Ombres Duulumieres #21 — Priscilla Francine Makeup
• A Christmas snowflakes nail art tutorial — Memorable Days
• The trials and tribulations of growing out eyebrows — Love Audrey
• My inner blush ho is now craving this Sunday Riley Blush — The Non Blonde
• Glittery green and smoky party eyes for the win — Lisa Eldridge Make Up
• I’m intrigued by this sheer red by Lavshuca — Glossed in Translation

The Weekly Roundup: MBB Posts You Might Have Missed

NARS UNSUNG HEROES
AFGHAN RED LIPSTICK

Every year around this time, my regular weakness for red lipsticks turns into a serious condition, but even now, it’s usually treatable (with the careful administration of crimson cosmetics), except when I’ve been exposed to a jewel-toned red from NARS.

Then, the only cure is a tube of something like NARS Lipstick in Afghan Red ($24), a rich pinkish garnet. I tooled around town with this particular tube all weekend long, trying to keep the fever at bay…

To be safe, I should probably just keep it in my purse.

Never mind that my purse is already loaded down with compacts, other lippies, emergency cans of gravy and the occasional acorn, it never hurts to be prepared. Once you’ve been exposed to a shade like Afghan Red, you never know when another red lipstick episode will occur. Trying to predict them is like trying to forecast when terry cloth tracksuits will be back in style (read: impossible to know). Read more…

IF YOU LIKE SMOKEY LOOKS,
MAKE SPACE IN YOUR MAKEUP COLLECTION FOR MAC NEBULA PIGMENT

Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise…

Wait — no they’re not. This isn’t a voyage. It’s actually a review of the new MAC Nebula Pigment ($20). I guess I just had a random Trekkie moment, like that time at the gym back before I’d met El Hub. I was running on the treadmill when a cute boy climbed up on the one next to me, turned my way and said, “Hi.”

My witty response: “Live long and prosper.”

Oh, yeah. It was smooth…

Seriously, though, I might not have had game, but I did know a lot about Star Trek. Read more…

MIXED METAL MANIS: GET THE PARTY AND CONVERSATION
STARTED WITH A SILVER AND GOLDEN GLITTER OMBRE MANICURE

Yes, ma’am, I’m still in a metallic mani mode, also known as a mixed metal mani state of mind. Why? Because it’s magnetic! — not literally, of course — but I think there is something bewitching about nails that look like shiny baubles shimmering in silver and gold. Perhaps it’s because they remind me of disco balls, or perhaps it’s an ancient urge more primitive and primal than that.

This particular metal mani, a silver and gold ombre affair, is a manifestation of this MAC purse from holiday 2007, and how its tweed pattern melts from silver to gold (LOVE!). Read more…

NARS UNSUNG HEROES
DAMNED VELVET MATTE LIP PENCIL

Lately (in case you haven’t noticed), I’ve had a thing for red lips. I look at them the same way I look at pairs of black shoes, which is to say that one tube (or pair) is never enough.

There are just so many different spins on the red lip motif, just as there are when it comes to black shoes. With the shoes, you’ve got your black high heels, low heels, stacked heels, platforms, and don’t get me started on the sub-shades of black.

It’s the same thing with crimson lip colors. Every one is unique, or at least different in some small but significant way. Read more…

BUXOM TRUE HUE, BABY I LOVE YOU:
THE NEW $24 BUXOM TRUE HUE BLUSHES ARE COMING IN FEBRUARY TO SEPHORA

Calling all blushing beauties and buffs! — Buxom plans to introduce a new collection of colorful cheek products into their permanent line. The new True Hue family arrives in February, bursting with bold pigments and, according to Buxom, the powers of a plant called rhodiola.

Buxom claims that the plant, used for centuries by people in Russia and Scandinavia to cope with the stress and cold of Siberian life, makes cheeks wearing the True Hue blushes appear refreshed, but I’d probably give these pigments more credit for that. I find them very easy to manipulate, thanks to super smooth powders that are a breeze to build up or sheer down. Read more…

ARE YOU A TOCCA GRACIELLA GIRL

It’s her hair you notice first — long, loose and wavy, and still a little damp from this morning’s shower. Today she’s riding her rickety bicycle, the one with the worn wicker basket on the front, along the cobblestone streets of the small Italian village you both call home.

“Hello, Graciella!” you call to her. She sees you, smiles and waves a hand high in reply.

Clackity-clack-clack, goes the bicycle, as it moves along the cobblestones. She’s wearing a flowery, flowing dress today, and all of a suddenly the air is filled with the scent of oranges, you assume from her shampoo. Fresh from a visit to the early morning market, her basket is brimming with white lilies and a brown paper bag filled with pears. Hungry (she’s always hungry), she nibbles on one of them as she cruises along, and when she passes you, there’s a whiff of soft musk from her skin, but it slowly drifts away. Read more…

MIXED METAL MANIS:
LIKE BRITNEY, MY NAILS ARE GOING BEIGE, SILVER AND GOLD

Aha! I always knew (or hoped) that those countless hours spent watching Pop-Up Video would pay off eventually. Yup, it was while watching Britney shake her moneymaker in the Toxic video (one of my faves) the other that day that I came up with this idea for a Mixed Metal Mani.

You know that nude bodysuit she wears with the diamonds? Wouldn’t that look pretty chic and blingy on your nails? — a minimalist nude nail layered with gold and silver glitter? Read more…

I CAN’T IMAGINE FALLING OUT OF LOVE WITH
LAURA MERCIER’S NEW BAKED EYE COLOUR PALETTE

Are they macarons, or are they eyeshadows? Well, that depends. The baked beauties in Laura Mercier’s new Baked Eye Colour Palette ($48) just might be a bit of both.

Like macarons, they make me smile. All five of the shimmery shadows in brown, bronze, beige, pink and purple deposit very little fallout on my cheeks, and I love the glowing, wide-awake look their punchy pigments bestow upon my eyes.

The palette, a holiday release, also comes with a time-saving surprise — a dual-tipped brush with a flat eyeshadow brush on one end and a dense, pointed cream shadow brush on the other. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Do you ever read through your old journals and think, “Wow, was that really me?” A few nights ago I was rifling through some boxes and found an old journal of mine from 2003. At the time I was working at a job I despised and filling page after page in journals with things like, “I feel as though everyone I know is moving forward, but I’m standing still.” I hadn’t yet figured out what I wanted to do about my job. All I knew was that I wanted to make a change, and I was caught in that unhelpful loop of constantly comparing myself to others.

I wrote that “many irrational feelings are rushing through my half-dead veins. Everyone seems to be catapulting toward their beautiful, amazingly bright future, while all I’m doing is sitting on my @ss complaining about how tired I am.”

Brings back a lot of rough memories, but whatcha gonna do? It happens…

I wish I still had more of my journals from high school, even though I’m pretty sure I’d be mortified to read them now. I came across this book that sounds like it summarizes what reading them would be like: Cringe: Toe-Curlingly Embarrassing Teenage Diaries, Love Letters and Bad Poetry.

Isn’t that a great title? Kinda hits the nail on the head. 🙂

In other news, I hope you’re having a nice weekend so far, and if, per chance, you plan to paint your nails today, be on the lookout for this loathsome beast:

THE LACQUER LEVIATHAN

FREQUENCY: Common
SPEED: Normal
ARMOR CLASS: 10+
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Can cause seemingly sealed bottles of nail polish to thicken overnight into a useless goopy mess. Its breath is also able to induce chips in brand new manis and pedis.
SPECIAL DEFENSES: The Lacquer Leviathan’s tough hide is covered in thousands of layers of built-up lacquer and top coat, making the creature almost invulnerable.
INTELLIGENCE: Not so much, but they do know the names of every nail polish ever created.
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: Huge (9′ tall)

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

• How to Apply Eyeshadows in 3 Easy Steps with the Wet n Wild Knock on Wood Trio — My Weekend Ramblings
• One of my favorite blogs celebrates its 5-year anniversary — Gala Darling
• DIY Holiday Photobooth Props — Oh Happy Day
• 12 Days of Christmas Nails: Sweet Talkin, Sugar Coated Candy Cane — The Nailasaurus
• 5 Must-Have Items to Update Your Wardrobe for Winter — College Fashion
• Don’t these three Bite High Pigment Matte Pencils look great? — the Notice
• I love infographics, and this one shows how to do a basic manicure — The Beauty Department
• It’s time for Santa nails! — Swatch and Learn
• Earth Tones with Fyrinnae and Chantecaille: A Weekend FOTD — My Funny Valentine
• DIY Pomegranate Beauty Recipes — Beautylish

The Weekly Roundup: MBB Posts You Might Have Missed

REMOVE GLITTER NAIL POLISHES QUICKER
WITH THIS LITTLE TRICK

I love glittery nail polishes, and I suspect that you may love ‘em, too. Lately, I’ve been having a blast with glittery ombre manicures, which have taken my lacquer love for glitter to whole new levels, but they’ve also opened my eyes to a downside of having so much glitter on my nails…

It can take forever to remove!

I can usually remove non-glittery polishes in 2-3 minutes, tops, but getting the glittery ones off can easily take me 10 minutes or more.

Until last weekend, my technique for removing glitter polishes involved soaking a cotton pad in an acetone nail polish remover, wrapping the wet pad around each nail, and then massaging the moistened pad around the nail for a minute or so before firmly sliding it from the base up to the tip. Sometimes, I’d have to repeat the process three or four times per nail to get them nice and clean. Read more…

NARS UNSUNG HEROES
NIGHT STAR EYESHADOW

It’s holiday party time! — but if you’re a busy gal with too many emails to answer and a to-do list longer than your arm, getting ready to party may be the last thing on your mind. If it is, perhaps NARS Night Star Eyeshadow can help.

Now, you know me when it comes to wearing color on my eyes — I love it! But I also like the versatility of neutral shades, and that’s the side of me that $23 Night Star excites. An eyeshadow single in the NARS permanent line, it’s a sheer peach with a golden glitter kick — a perfect pick for office parties this time of year.

When I want to brighten my lids and give a golden sparkle to my eyes, this is the color I grab. Read more…

MAC DAPHNE GUINNESS FOR MAC COLLECTION
PRODUCT PICS AND SWATCHES

What up, MACaholics! Here’s a quick peek at product pics and swatches of some items from the new Daphne Guinness for MAC collection. The mostly cool-toned launch hits MAC counters and stores December 26 in North America and January 2012 internationally.

Have a look at these swatches and pictures, and let me know what you think. Read more…

WITH THE ESSIE LUXEFFECTS COLLECTION,
GLITTER IS A SHINE OF THE TIMES

The other day at the grocery store, I got to chatting with the cashier who was helping me. She was sporting one of the cutest sparkly manicures I’d seen in a while, and when I told her how much I liked it, she replied, “Aw, thanks! Since I have to wear a uniform every day, I like to do something to spice it up.”

Amen to that! Working for Tabs, I also have to wear a uniform of sorts — you know, sensible shoes and clothes that show I’m responsible enough to handle midnight gravy runs, and other crucial cat-assigned tasks. To spice things up this week, I plan to wear something from Essie Luxeffects.

The new collection of nail polishes launched earlier this month with five glittery shades ($8 each), and WOW! — what a surprise. I think of Essie as a pretty conservative line, so it’s neat to see them take a detour down a sparkly path. Read more…

WITH THE MAC DAPHNE GUINNESS INTERIOR LIFE QUAD,
THERE’S A STORM BREWING, BUT IT’S COOL

I love it when life imitates art, or seems to, like it did yesterday when a storm passed overhead while I was contemplating the Eyeshadow X4 quad in Interior Life ($38).

The gray clouds came out of nowhere — clear skies one minute, a downpour the next — and when a blast of thunder roared, I was clutching the quad and its four cool-toned shades.

Looking up at the sky and then down at the quad, I realized that both of them were cut from the same cloth, a shawl of moody grays, purples, blues and pinks…

Now, I like these colors. I do. They’re just not the easiest shades for me to wear, and if you’re a damsel with a darker skin tone like mine, you might find that these shadows appear quite sheer when applied. Read more…

NARS UNSUNG HEROES
TAOS BLUSH

NARS Taos Blush ($27) belongs to an elite battalion of blushes in my beauty brigade called the One Swipers, a group of blushes able to deliver all-day color from a single swipe across the pan.

What makes it special?

These One Swipers pack a lot of pigment, so a little goes a long way — which is great when they’re as expensive as a NARS blush. Taos, here, should last until forever, or at least until Bella and Edward break up (whichever comes first).

A platoon leader in the NARS permanent collection, Taos is one of those vibrant colors that I always notice when I walk by an open pan. A bright rosy red with golden shimmer and a wisp of coral, it’s like NARS Torrid’s darker red doppelganger. Read more…

SKINCARE FOR THE CHANGING SEASONS
PAMPER YOUR SKIN WITH THESE 3 DIY RECIPES FOR SKINCARE TREATS

I have a love/hate relationship with my kitchen…

Sometimes, like when I have a long, lazy Saturday afternoon stretched out in front of me and very little on my plate, I enjoy cooking and preparing meals from start to finish. Other times, though, like after a busy day on an average Wednesday night, even the thought of tearing open a bag of baby carrots is enough to wear me out.

Last Saturday wasn’t exactly a lazy day, but I did have a little time to explore the culinary arts. While rooting around the cupboards, I realized that my pantry contained the fixin’s for more than good eats. It also had some great ingredients to make a number of do-it-yourself skincare treats.

All three of these recipes rely on ingredients you may already have in your kitchen at home, and the best part? — they only call for two ingredients each. Read more…

MIXED METAL MANI
A NAIL TUTORIAL STARRING TWO-TONE SILVER AND GOLD

Earlier this year when I met with Rob, a personal stylist at Nordstrom, one of the things we chatted about was metal — that is, mixing metal accessories.

I was drooling over a pair of shoes with silver accents at the time and wondered about incorporating gold and silver jewelry into the outfit. Rob said, “Sure!” He thought that mixing silver and gold was a cool and modern way to update a look.

I remembered Rob’s metallic moxie this week while trying to figure out something fun to do with my nails. I wanted something festive that wasn’t red and green, so I figured, how about silver and gold?

It’s a little quirky, but that’s one of the things I like about it, and I can see myself wearing this with various shiny baubles all year round. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MISSION STATUS UPDATE: Operation Christmas Cheer, Dec. 11, 2011.

Yesterday Agent El Hub and I brought a small, slightly sad-looking tree back to headquarters, ran twinkling white lights around a couple of interior windows and, while not directly related to the mission, watched two films, Water for Elephants and The Debt, both of which we liked. 🙂

After analyzing the available intelligence, Director Tabs felt that today would be a better day to decorate the tree, so Agent El Hub and I will initiate “Protocol: Light Strings” after the morning briefing.

Wish me luck. I hope things go well today… A lot is riding on this mission.

– Agent Karen

P.S. Our in-depth exploration of makeup monsters continues this week with a look at the Gloss Grabber. Makeup lovers around the world have reported coming into contact with this little rascal, and consequently losing their lipglosses. If you believe you’ve seen a Gloss Grabber, please report it to the FBMMI (Federal Bureau of Makeup Monster Investigation) immediately.

THE GLOSS GRABBER

FREQUENCY: Common
SPEED: Lightning quick
ARMOR CLASS: 5
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Lightning lipgloss dash. Gloss grabbers are the gremlins of the gloss world, mischievous little creatures that absolutely love to steal and hoard lipgloss. Some of their favorite hiding places include the back seats of cars, inside couch cushions and under bedroom dressers.
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Their incredible quickness allows them to stay hidden much of the time.
INTELLIGENCE: Very, but it doesn’t matter because all they care about is gloss.
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: Tiny (barely 6″ tall)

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

• Beauty Inside Out: 5 Concepts of Inner Beauty I Try to Live By — My Women Stuff
• Criminal Mastermind — Hello Kitty Steals Hearts With Mighty Fine’s New Bandit Tees — Sicka Than Average
• Hourglass makeup artist Josh Collier takes a look at Jordana Cosmetics — JoshCollierMUA
• Julep Nail Vernis in Trina Is an Aubergine Dream — à la peach
• 10 Things to Give (I love these ideas!) — Oh Happy Day
• What’s Shiny, Black, and Waterproof? Lord and Berry Inkglam Liquid Liner — My Funny Valentine
• A Nail Art Tutorial: Snowflake Nails — Swatch and Learn
• Fire Things Up with Pantone’s 2012 Color of the Year — Bellasugar
• Motives by Loren Ridinger Plum Pretty Palette Makes Me Smile — Beauty Logic
• A makeup makeunder! 10 products Michelle of Beauty Editor swears by for a bare-faced (but not boring) natural look — Beauty Editor

The Weekly Roundup: MBB Posts You Might Have Missed

WITH TOCCA’S TINY TO GO EAU DE PARFUMS,
YOU CAN FIT TUSCANY IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND

“Who says bigger’s always better?” asks the 5-foot-1 girl typing this sentence. (Incidentally, she’s usually the shortest person in the room.)

The new $15 Tocca To Go Mini Eau de Parfums combine teeny, tiny cuteness with Tocca’s signature fresh and flirty floral scents.

I stumbled upon three of these minis at the mall yesterday while cruising for Christmas tchotchkes. They were right next to a weird $500 white porcelain horse head in Anthropologie (so very Godfather!) and surrounded by a sea of $50 salt-and-pepper shakers.

Aren’t they cuter than cupcakes? Read more…

TODAY I AM…

…wearing Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs in Les Roses ($59) on my eyes and Rouge G in 72 Rose Innocent ($48) on my lips. Both are from the spring 2012 collection and coming this January to select Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sephora, Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman stores.

I’m spritzing citrusy Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrien ($85) on my wrists and remembering the time I visited an Annick Goutal store in Paris and somehow, miraculously, managed to speak enough high school French to successfully purchase three small bottles of perfume. Read more…

A REVEALING LOOK AT NYX’S NEW
CLOTHING OPTIONAL PALETTE, BUTT NAKED EYES

Butt why, NYX!? Why so cheeky?

I can’t say I ever expected to see the words “butt” and “naked” appear on a makeup palette, butt there they are — all saucy and snarky on the front of Butt “Naked” Eyes, NYX’s new $25 holiday palette for the face, eyes and cheeks.

Judging by the name at least, it looks like the line had fun putting together this two-tiered palette of eyeshadows, blushes, a bronzer and highlighters, butt about that name…

LOL! Okay, I’ll stop.

I couldn’t help but notice that the name shares a word in common with the recently released Naked2 from Urban Decay. Read more…

MAC UNSUNG HEROES
MAC RED LIPSTICK

The holidays are in full effect, y’all, and red lipsticks are in the mutha’ truckin’ house! Of course, I couldn’t forget to include one of the most party-poppin’ colors in MAC’s permanent line, the bright, bold, beautiful MAC Red ($14.50).

If you like MAC Russian Red, you just might love its cousin. A bright bluish red with the subtlest semblance of shine, MAC Red grooves on lips with a modicum of magenta that keeps it playful and always down to party. Read more…

ON SECOND THOUGHT, I ACTUALLY ADORE
MAC CLEANSE OFF OIL/TRANQUIL

When I find myself tapping an almost empty plastic bottle upside down against the side of the sink to coax out the last few drops of this product, or zipping to the mall minutes before it closes to pick up a spare and coming home with not one but two replacement bottles — that’s when I know it’s probably time to throw my arms up in the air, spin around in circles and sing at the top of my lungs like Maria does at the beginning of the Sound of Music…

“The hills are alive…” with the sound of MAC Cleanse Off Oil/Tranquil!

Err — so maybe my version of the song doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Maria’s, but I still think this stuff is awfully amazing. Epic, even.

It’s a mineral oil-free makeup remover designed to whisk away face, lip and eye makeup, and it does such a good job on hard-to-remove products that I rarely feel the need to use it with a secondary cleanser. Read more…

THESE NEW NYX XTREME LIP CREAMS HAVE
AN XTREMELY INTERESTING FLAVOR AND SCENT

Plastic and butter.

Yes, plastic and butter.

Yeegh!

The thought of those together makes my tummy churn, and unfortunately, it’s the way I think the new NYX Xtreme Lip Creams taste and smell. Even so, the list of things I like about these liquid lipgloss/lipstick hybrids almost outweighs their flavor and scent. Read more…

3 MAKEUP AND BEAUTY PACKING TIPS
TO PREP FOR HOLIDAY TRAVEL

2011 will go down in my diary as the Year of the Suitcase. I took a total of five trips this year, which is nothing, I know, compared to hard-core travelers, but it was a lot for me.

And one fantastic side effect of those trips was that they forced me to upgrade my approach to packing. I went from starting the year as a contender for “Crappiest Packer Ever,” and ended it as a middleweight semi-pro packer with a handful of new tricks.

If you have plans to fly (or drive) over the next few weeks, here are three things you can do to eek out a few more cubic feet for makeup and beauty in your luggage.

TIP NO. 1: I’m a gal with a weakness for products, and there’s only so much room in those TSA-approved plastic baggies. By filling up little sample jars with your must-have skincare and other liquid products, you can fill your allowed plastic bag to the brim. Read more…

3 WAYS TO WEAR RED LIPS
FOR THE TOTALLY TERRIFIED

Earlier this week in the comments on the MAC Unsung Heroes Red Lipstick post I got to chatting with reader Dana Jae about a question a lot of us wrestle with — “What can I do to get over my fear of red lips?”

We may love the way red lips look on other gals, but for one reason or another, we just don’t feel they work as well for us. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Okay, so I really enjoyed Friends with Benefits! Not a bad romantic comedy at all. Snappy dialogue, good chemistry between JT and Mila Kunis, a pretty believable-ish storyline and a great supporting cast.

JT has picked some interesting movie roles this year, hasn’t he? I thoroughly enjoyed this one and also liked In Time earlier this year, the sci-fi one where time is the currency, despite it getting kinda lukewarm reviews.

In other news, welcome to Sunday! 🙂

How’s it going this weekend? I hope you’ve had some time to unwind. Nothing exciting to report out here. It’s sunny this weekend but cold. We had some super strong hurricane-force winds earlier this week, but everything’s very still outside now.

I’m just chugging along, mostly doing little chores around the house. I just finished some gruel for breakfast (oatmeal) to get me fueled up for a quick run, but that’s about all I’ve got going on for today.

Oh, while you’re out and about this weekend, please watch out for makeup monsters, like this annoying bugger here…

THE MASCARA MANGLER

FREQUENCY: Common
SPEED: Fast
ARMOR CLASS: 4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Mascara Manglers have a minor form of makeup mind control. They’re able to make their victims touch, smudge and smear their own mascara (it’s soo annoying!).
SPECIAL DEFENSES: They’re waterproof
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Evil
SIZE: M (6′ tall)

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

• DIY Candy Lights — Oh Happy Day
• Your December Activity Guide — Galadarling
• Cleopatra, Brigitte Bardot and Angelina Jolie can’t be wrong: 10 tips to perfect your cat-eye lining technique. Meow! — Beauty Editor
• How to Buy What You’ll Wear and Wear What You Buy: Lessons Learned from Personal Style Blogging — Ruby Slipper Journeys
• The Beauty Department Presents the Holiday Gift Guide — The Beauty Department
• How to Tackle Holiday Shopping as a College Student — College Fashion
• 12 Days of Christmas Nails: Day 2 (Reindeer Nail Art) — The Nailasaurus
• How to Create a Pretty, Sexy Holiday Makeup Look — Bellasugar
• The Beauty Benefits of Smiling — You Beauty
• I love these Beauty Street Style Columns on the Stylist — Stylist

The Weekly Roundup: MBB Posts You Might Have Missed

YOU’RE SHEER TO FIND A SEASON’S WORTH OF PRETTY IN
CLINIQUE’S NEW HOLIDAY PALETTE FOR EYES, LIPS AND CHEEKS

How much pretty did Clinique squeeze into their new 13-piece holiday palette for eyes, lips and cheeks? Well, judging by the name they gave it, I’d say around “A Season’s Worth.”

The cool tones and neutral shades in the new $37 palette have a distinctly festive feel that reminds me of caroling and getting snuggles from Tabs. They’re the kinds of colors I can see myself wearing with scarves, boots and mittens wrapped around mugs of piping hot cocoa, yet they seem timeless enough to make the transition from winter to spring, and maybe even summer.

More than 20 years ago (egad!) I followed Clinique through a gateway that led to the World of Makeup! There, I found wonders like MAC and NARS, and yet even with such tantalizing temptations teasing my senses, I regularly return to my roots with Clinique. Read more…

MAC UNSUNG HEROES
LADY DANGER LIPSTICK

“Lady Danger to Ruby Woo! Lady Danger to Ruby Woo! Come in, Ruby Woo! Do you copy? Over.”

“This is Ruby Woo. I read you loud and clear, Lady Danger. What’s your 20? Has Russian Red been neutralized? Over.”

“That’s affirmative, cap’n. Russian Red has been neutralized. I’m leaving the checkpoint now. Returning to base. Over.”

“Copy that, Lady Danger. Good work!”

Russian Red, Ruby Woo and Lady Danger may sound like secret agent code names, but they’re actually three of MAC’s most popular red lipsticks. Read more…

GET ONE MORE DAY FROM YOUR BLOWOUT WITH
THIS IMPROV BEAUTY TRICK

Last week was crazy busy, with two trips out of town and a big family visit, so on Wednesday, knowing that I wouldn’t have much time later in the week to tend to my hair, I blew it out and hoped I’d be able to get by for a few days using just a dry shampoo.

It was a decent enough plan, and it got me through a few days, but then I decided to sneak in a run…

BAM! Just like that, I had janky roots.

And a greasy scalp. Greasy, stinky, oily, and all kinds of gross.

I fully intended to wash my hair before heading to my BFF’s son’s baptism on Saturday, but as usual, time escaped me, and I ended up with only 20 minutes to dress and get out the door. Read more…

TODAY MOTHER NATURE DID MY MAKEUP, AND SHE USED PRODUCTS FROM
MAKE UP FOR EVER, MAC NARS, PACIFICA AND LAURA MERCIER

Today I found my makeup inspiration by looking down — down at the multi-colored leaves scattered on the sidewalk outside. Yup, I turned to Mother Nature this afternoon and reached for colors in copper, beige and khaki for my face of the day.

I’ve been meaning to try a look with Make Up For Ever’s new Wild & Chic Palette ($39) for, um, ever! MUFE fans, this palette does not disappoint. The rich colors are super easy to blend, and I think they look pretty great in pictures, too.

This look also features my new favorite lip combo — Pacifica Color Quench Lip Tint in Blood Orange topped with Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Blush. I wore it last week to Thanksgiving dinner and even got a few compliments from the makeup-loving cousins. Read more…

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE BEAUTY HACKS
ALSO KNOWN AS YOUR SECRET BEAUTY SHORTCUTS?

Yesterday’s blowout hair trick got me fired up to find even more beauty hacks, also known as secret beauty shortcuts. As a gal who spends much of her time running behind, every minute counts, and I can always use a new time-saving tip.

Here are a few more that I regularly use…

The peep-toe pedicure

Sometimes, when I’m running ragged and totally pressed for time, I’ll look down at my feet and think, “There’s no way I’d make it through all 10 toes!”

When I don’t have enough time to paint all 10 piggies but still want a little color on my toes, I grab a bottle of polish and a pair of peep-toe shoes. Read more…

IT TAKES URBAN DECAY NAKED2 TO MAKE A THING TO RIGHT…
IT TAKES URBAN DECAY NAKED2 TO MAKE IT OUTTA SIGHT

I wanna rock right now.
I’m K-Dog and I came to get down.
My cat’s internationally known,
And he’s known to rock the microphone.

‘Cause I get stupid, I mean outrageous,
My love for UD Naked2 is contagious.
These shadows are winners, no, they’re not losers,
With 12 shades total for every neutral user.

Ladies love it, girls adore it,
I mean even the ones who never saw it like…
The way that the shades just flow.
The reason why, UD steals the show,
So let’s go, ’cause… Read more…

SKINCARE FOR THE CHANGING SEASONS
5 TIPS TO SOOTHE AND PROTECT DRY WINTER HANDS

I was tickling the ivories on my computer keyboard the other day (I l-o-v-e R-y-a-n G-o-s-l-i-n-g) when my eyes settled on a frightening sight.

My hands!

Something — probably a combination of biting winds, indoor heaters and obsessive hand washing — had turned them into two chapped chunks of leathery turkey jerky.

Not cute.

“Tabs!” I screamed, reaching out to him for emotional support, but as soon as he took one look at my wretched paws, he hissed and ran away.

Okay, well, maybe not, but I think he did sort of cringe. Read more…

AN URBAN DECAY NAKED2 FACE OF THE DAY
AND COMPARISON SWATCHES WITH THE ORIGINAL NAKED PALETTE

Here are some shots of the new Urban Decay Naked2 Palette ($50; available now online) in action, babe. I used the Naked2 tutorial on the Urban Decay website as a jumping off point.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering how Naked and Naked2 looked side-by-side…

What do ya think? Skinny dip time (the pool is heated)? Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

It’s Sunday already? Wow, this weekend’s on fast forward! Shoot, where’s the Pause button…? I gotta hit that thing and slow the day down before it’s Monday and El Hub has to go back to work.

What’s new with you? Did you do anything new or exciting yesterday? My BFF’s son’s christening was a lot of fun. It was also my first semi-pro photography gig, and I think everything went well. No toes were stepped on, nor candles bumped.

Actually about a dozen babies were baptized during the ceremony, so the church was a packed house filled with family members and lots of camera gear. Everyone was trying to get that coveted shot of their child’s expression right as the priest douses them with holy water. Some babies scream at the top of their lungs, like “Dude! What was that!? I thought we were friends and then you go and pour water on my head? Not cool, dude. Not cool.” Others don’t seem to mind at all, like “SUH-WEET! I love bath time. Now bring on the bubbles!”

We were gonna go to a movie last night but got home a little late, so we just stayed in… I got hooked on a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills marathon and watched that until a little after midnight, and now my neck hurts from all of the head shaking I did. It was pretty much just a constant “No, no, no, no” for hours and hours, but you know how it is. Those shows are like potato chips. I couldn’t stop after the first one.

Oh, have you ever heard of a creature called the Eyeshadow Smusher? Reader Adrienne recently spotted one. Smushers like to jab their stubby fingers into pans of eyeshadow like they’re digging for gold, crumbling them into millions of pieces. Kind of annoying.

THE EYESHADOW SMUSHER

FREQUENCY: Uncommon (hangs out anywhere eyeshadow can be found; loves makeup counters)
SPEED: Slow
ARMOR CLASS: 6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: 2x damage against eyeshadows
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Low, except when it comes to eyeshadow, about which he knows everything there is to know
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M (3′ tall, weighs about 400 lbs.)

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

• 4 Easy “Nail Hacks” That Really Work — College Fashion
• Ueba Esou Water-Based Gofun Nail Polish: Uguisu Midori — à la peach
• New from theBalm: The Nude Tude Eyeshadow Palette — Makeup4all
• What To Wear Under The Season’s Trickiest Dresses — Refinery 29
• One for the Crazy Cat Ladies: Dapper Little Kitten Pins — The Black Apple
• NEAT! How to Make Homemade Play-Doh — A Stay at Home Working Mom’s Tale
• A cute manicure with glittery tips — Pearls & Poodles
• When I’m 80 years old, I hope to rock the cat eye as hard as this woman does — Advanced Style
• For fans of E.E. Cummings and Kitties — e.e. catting

The Weekly Roundup: MBB Posts You Might Have Missed

HAVE YOU RED ANYTHING ABOUT THE FIVE PIGMENTED LIPSTICKS IN THE
NEW DOLCE & GABBANA RUBY COLLECTION? WOULD YOU LIKE TO?

Rodeos everywhere are banning the new Dolce & Gabbana Ruby collection because its five Classic Cream Lipsticks have all the bulls seeing red!

No two ways about it — these festive and flirty lippies are for ladies who like red, and they’re jam packed with so much rich red pigment that they’re driving up the price of stop signs nationwide!

LOL! Okay, I’ll stop with the jokes. But seriously, these are really red.

They’re $37 each, which is $7 more than usual for one of Dolce & Gabbana’s Classic Creams; the markup pays for their dazzling limited edition Ruby attire.

With these, Dolce & Gabbana essentially created a nuanced wardrobe of red for a five-day week. The first time I swatched them on the back of my hand, I thought they looked too similar, but I could see their differences more clearly once I got them on my lips. Read more…

THE WACOAL 854191 STRAPLESS PUSH-UP BRA:
THE BEST DAMN STRAPLESS BRA I’VE EVER WORN

What do you get when you combine the words “phenomenal” and “strapless bra” in the same sentence? Well, besides a good laugh? Because that was always the case until I found the subject of this afternoon’s post.

I don’t know how you feel about ‘em, but strapless bras for me have always been exercises in misery. Oh, the many times I’ve ducked into bathrooms to hoist up a strapless bra that has somehow worked its way around my belly button…

But lo, magic exists! Just when I began to believe I’d never find a good strapless bra, like it would forever be my personal chupacabra, I discovered the Wacoal 854191 Strapless Push-Up Bra, also known as “the most phenomenal strapless bra I’ve ever worn.” Read more…

PHYTO 7 DAILY HYDRATING BOTANICAL CREAM
BROUGHT MY BRITTLE HAIR BACK FROM THE BRINK

One day, while I was cruising the wares at a Pure Beauty store, I happened upon a sales associate with the longest, shiniest, healthiest looking hair I’d seen in years.

It, and the fact that it belonged to a dude, left me speechless for an unusually long pause…

When my brain rebooted, I asked the boy how he got such a fly mane, and he pointed me to the Phyto 7.

Phyto 7 Daily Hydrating Botanical Cream ($26) contains a blend of seven plant extracts — calendula, sage, burdock, willow, soybean, rosemary and althea — pit together for their hydrating and replenishing properties. By maintaining optimum moisture levels, it’s supposed to make hair look smoother, softer and shinier from the very first application. Read more…

NARS UNSUNG HEROES
LUSTER BLUSH

Say the uber-pigmented NARS Lovejoy Blush seems a little too dark and intense for you, but you still want the same two-in-one blush/bronzer effect. Never fear, Luster Blush ($27) is here!

Like Lovejoy, Luster adds color, shimmer and warmth in a single swipe, and the way that it lights up cheeks makes it a good companion for a fading summer tan.

It’s one of those shades that I overlooked for years based on the way it looks in the pan — kinda ordinary and nondescript — but I’m glad I finally gave it a swipe and a chance. When I did, I fell instantly in love. Read more…

LIVE CLEAN BABY, AN ECO-FRIENDLY CRUELTY-FREE LINE,
ARRIVES AT WALGREENS STORES

Anonymous sources on Sesame Street have confirmed that rubber ducky makes bath time lots of fun, and with the new Live Clean Baby line of cruelty-free drugstore baby products, the whole bath time experience is likely to improve.

Yup, for the moms and grandmothers among us — and for those of us who just like soothing, gentle drugstore products in adorable packaging — the six-piece Live Clean Baby collection has made its way from Canada to U.S. Walgreens stores.

The collection includes a Tearless Shampoo & Wash, Moisturizing Baby Bath, Moisturizing Bar Soap, Non-Petroleum Jelly, Diaper Ointment, and a Lotion, each one priced at $7.99. Read more…

MAC UNSUNG HEROES
RETROSPECK EYESHADOW

Since we’ll be hitting the road early tomorrow, I’ve drawn upon my vast experience as a makeup nerd/control freak to lay out a beauty plan, because the last thing I want to do on Thanksgiving is scare the relatives, BOO!

The plan involves today’s Unsung Hero, MAC Retrospeck Eyeshadow ($15 for a pan; $11 for the Pro Palette Refill at the top of this post).

Like MAC Phloof!, Restrospeck is one of my favorite get-out-the-door products. It brightens eyes in just a few quick swipes.

MAC describes it as a bleached blonde, but on my skin I see a warm and shimmery mix of silver and gold — a surefire way to look wide-eyed and bright. Read more…

GIVE YOURSELF A GLITTER OMBRE MANICURE TO SUPPORT
YOUR TEAM ON THANSGIVING (OR ANY OTHER DAY)

I stopped by a UPS Store to mail a package last week and received an unexpected compliment from the guy working the counter. He pointed at my glittery red and gold ombre manicure and said, “Atta girl! You’re wearing 49er colors.”

He said that his wife, a long-time Niners fan, would probably love to wear a mani like that on game day and asked if it was hard to do.

“Not at all,” I replied, and I walked him through the process as he prepped my package.

FYI: Talking nails with a big, burly UPS guy is weirdly entertaining. About halfway through the process, his eyes took on the same glazed, confused look that El Hub gets when I try to explain why it makes perfect sense for me to own 15 pairs of black shoes. Read more…

MAC UNSUNG HEROES
RUBY WOO LIPSTICK

The holidays are a great time to go glam with vivid colors like MAC Ruby Woo ($14.50).

Heck, even the trees get all dolled up this time of year! It’s the perfect opportunity to push the envelope with your look, and nothing says “holiday party” like a pigmented red lip.

Coral red Ruby Woo is wearing warmer attire than my other go-to crimson cutie, MAC Russian Red. It has a warmer tone that I like to pair with shimmery gold shadows and looks with thick cat liner. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Just some crazy imagery to play with your mind this morning…

You know, there’s a reason why so many cosmetics counters are guarded by armored knights with vorpal swords these days. It’s because of the makeup monsters! Insiders tell me that they’ve really become a big problem for the brands.

You’ve heard about lipstick monsters, right? Well, they’re bad, but blush bashers are even worse! They’re distantly related to jabberwockies, very rare, and hell bent on bashing blush pans into rubble. Their sole purpose in life is to smash and crush blush. They’re just as obsessed with destroying blush as I am about wearing it.

If you happen to cross one in your beauty travels, keep your blush pans under wraps. Blush bashers are pretty harmless and kinda cute as long as they’re kept far, far away from blush.

THE BLUSH BASHER

FREQUENCY: Very Rare (thank goodness!)
SPEED: Slow
ARMOR CLASS: 8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: 5% critical hit against pans of blush
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (he just can’t help himself when it comes to blush)
SIZE: L (14′ tall)

So, it’s probably obvious by now, but I like to draw and blog about strange stuff on the weekends.

Hey, a girl’s gotta keep things interesting for herself, right? 🙂

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

• Going Medieval on Yer Nail Art, Yo! — The Nailasaurus
• DIY Floral Party Hats — Oh Happy Day
• How To: A Katy Perry Inspired Sparkly Party Makeup Look — Beaut.ie
• 5 Crazy Intriguing Beauty Products (Think Tattooed Lips and Skin That Glows in the Dark) — Beauty Editor
• Nail Polish 101: Dealing With Stained Nails — College Fashion
• 5 Foolproof Ways To Wear Red Lipstick — Afrobella
• Recipes Illustrated by Artists from Around the World (I love this!) — They Draw & Cook
• Easy Holiday Makeup: How to Go From Day To Night — Bella Sugar
• A Gorgeous Look Starring YSL Rouge Pur Couture Golden Lustre in 110 Fuchsia Symbole — Glitter Geek
• A Red with the Power of Sunshine! Dior Vernis Merveille 651 (Holiday 2011 Les Rouges Or Collection) — à la peach

The Weekly Roundup: MBB Posts You Might Have Missed

$28 WORKS OUT TO HALF OFF PACIFICA’S
MAGIC CARPET RIDE

There’s no doubt about it: I’m slowly turning into my mother, and there are moments when it hits me, like after I’ve clipped a great coupon (score!) or cleaned the oven and felt an overwhelming sense of joy.

I had one of those moments the other day when I spotted the new Pacifica Magic Carpet Ride body butter set ($28).

Limited edition for the holidays, it comes with three of my favorite Pacifica scents. The first one, Island Vanilla, has a hint of tea and a grown-up twist. The second one, Indian Coconut Nectar, makes me hungry for warm vanilla cake with coconut frosting and dulce de leche drizzled on top (OH, GAWD!). Read more…

THIS YEAR FOR THE HOLIDAYS,
CLARINS GOT PASSIONATE (AND IT’S A SLOW BURN)

Packaging ho that I am, I always salivate thinking about look forward to seeing what Clarins cooks up for their holiday collections.

Remember the floral flourishes swirling across 2010′s Barocco release and the plaster and pebbled textures from 2009′s Palazzo d’Oro?

Mmm… luxuries limited edition designs. And seriously good stuff.

Since the brand usually displays dramatic flair with the packaging of their holiday collections, I was a little surprised by this year’s release. Passion, available now on Clarins counters and also online, has at least one opulent episode via the curvy red pattern decorating the Passion Face Palette ($55), but the other items in the four-piece collection look uncharacteristically streamlined and restrained. Read more…

CHANEL’S ROUGE ALLURE VELVET LUMINOUS MATTE LIP COLOURS
FEEL SO LIGHT THAT THEY DEFY GRAVITY!

I’ve only been snowboarding once, and it was a very long time ago. I don’t remember much about that day anymore, but I do recall the cold. I remember that much — the part about freezing my @ass off — and I also remember flying down the mountain and feeling lighter than air, with the wind whipping through my ponytail and my heart pounding in my chest.

I’d do it again if it wasn’t so cold, but what can I say? I was made in the tropics.

Snow wasn’t part of my original programming, but I think I was configured to appreciate featherweight lip products like the new Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lip Colours ($32 each, available in eight shades). Read more…

IT TAKES ONE OR TWO TO TANGO WITH
BOBBI BROWN’S NEW CHOCOLATE & GOLD EYE PALETTE

Chocolate & Gold happens to be a great dance partner! The shadows, while fabulous on their own, get along great with others and flat-out love to be layered.

Which reminds me — do you remember the moment you realized that you could wear more than one eyeshadow on your lids at a time? Better yet, when you figured out that you could even layer those shades together?

GASP! That’s a moment that changed my makeup world forever.

Flash forward to today. I was just fooling around this morning when I applied the bronzy gold from the Chocolate & Gold Palette (at the top in the pic below) on top of the darker black and gold shadow on the right. Read more…

NARS UNSUNG HEROES
LOVEJOY BLUSH

Combined, some words are even greater than the sum of their parts. Take Nutella and doughnuts, for instance. Both tasty treats by themselves, for sure, but stick them together and BOOM!

Magic (super high-calorie magic).

I think the same principle also applies to NARS Lovejoy, a $27 powder blush from the NARS permanent line.

NARS Lovejoy does more than combine two — wait, three great words. It also combines two of my favorite products, blush and bronzer.

And seriously, with a name like Lovejoy, how could it have been anything but good? Read more…

SKINCARE FOR THE CHANGING SEASONS
5 HOME REMEDIES FOR PUFFY EYES

’round these parts, the holidays are all about the four F’s — food, fun, friends and family — but there’s a fifth F, a special holiday F, and it’s rarely talked about in polite company.

F-R-E-A-K-I-N-G OUT!

The holidays — gotta love ‘em. Don’t get me wrong: I cherish this time of year, but it does place demands on us that can leave us feeling stressed.

I always look forward to the family get-togethers. For the most part, everyone gets along, but every family has its moments. Having so many people with so much history all under the same roof can start to feel like a pressure cooker, and if someone ends up crying, it’s usually me.

There’s always a silver lining, though, even to tears. Now, I have a pretty decent arsenal of tips and tricks to deal with puffy eyes, and most of them can be done for little to no money using products you may already have around the house. Read more…

FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE CHINA GLAZE
EYE CANDY COLLECTION

Oops! I just misspelled my Google search term. I meant to type “YouTube kittens,” but I accidentally typed “Ryan Gosling abs.”

Don’t you hate it when that happens?

The Internet can be so distracting. It’s easy to get so busy Googling important things like Ryan’s abs that you miss the really important stuff, like all of the glittery nail polishes appearing this season.

The stuff’s been showing up everywhere! — but after a certain point, it all starts to blend together, like house music at a three-day rave (duh-chuh-duh-chuh-duh-chuh!).

No worries. Eye Candy, the latest collection from China Glaze, can simplify the process of finding a glitter polish that’s both flashy and classy. The six-piece collection was inspired by Marilyn Monroe and utilizes a special variety of glitter called GLITTER (in all caps). Read more…

I RECHARGED TODAY WITH A MAKE UP FOR EVER, MAC, NARS AND
CLARINS FACE OF THE DAY

Jeez, I swear, sometimes face paint is like chicken soup for my soul.

I was chugging along just fine this afternoon until about 3 p.m., and then…afternoon slump.

I’m not sure why or what happened — it might have something to do with the chilly weather — but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open. All I wanted to do was take a nap, an activity which, by the way, Tabs wholeheartedly approved.

But instead of napping, I made myself another cup of tea and set about trying to do something new for my makeup.

After this face of the day, which I did using holiday fare from the Make Up For Ever Wild & Chic, MAC Glitter and Ice and Clarins Passion collections (with a dash from the NARS permanent line), I actually felt a whole lot better. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Isn’t it funny how sometimes when you go shopping, you go in for one thing and end up leaving with something completely different? Well, my pants have been fitting me kinda strangely lately (I’ve been running a lot), and since it isn’t cool to have your bum accidentally fall out of your jeans, I went to the mall yesterday afternoon to get a couple of new pairs from Old Navy.

And I figured that since Sephora is right across the street, I might as well pop in. Next thing you know, I’m at the NARS blush display swatching for like 45 minutes (WHEE!)…

Sephora V.I.B. Haul: NARS blushes and hair essentials from Bumble & Bumble and Phyto

…and then I’m at Marshalls trying on tops.

The yellow Michael Stars tee on the left was marked down from $59 to $12.99!

And since Petco was next door, of course I had to check out their rescue kittens (of course).

Much to Tabs’ relief, though, none of them came home with me.

You better believe I’m not sharing my gravy…

All in all, it was a successful Saturday shopping experience, except that I didn’t find any pants! 🙂

In other news, have you ever wondered what happens to lipsticks that get lost and disappear? Like where they go?

Check it — I finally found the answer…

They’re consumed by a creature called the Lipstick Monster!

LIPSTICK MONSTER

FREQUENCY: Rare
SPEED: Slow
ARMOR CLASS: 5 (immune to bludgeoning weapons)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Can sense the presence of lipsticks in the area
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Hungry
SIZE: L (8′ tall)

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

• Chanel Illusion D’Ombre Mirifique Is on Many Fall Favorites Lists This Year — My Funny Valentine
• Essence Vampire’s Love Trend Edition Nail Polishes — Nihrida
• A Geek Chic How-to: Makeup + Glasses — Unplggd
• 33 Hours Without Sleep and the Havoc It Wreaks on Your Health and Skin — My Women Stuff
• A Step-by-Step Orange and Taupe Eyeshadow Tutorial — Makeup and Macaroons
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express for Brows and Eyes — Makeup Your Jangsara
• Tweezerman Professional Classic Lash Curler Review & Pictures — Swatch and Learn
• I Collect Hair Tips Like It’s My Job (Which It Is!), and Here are 5 New Ones, from the Best Styling Prodz to Where to Buy Hair Accessories — Beauty Editor
• Revlon Lip Butters: Because You Haven’t Heard Enough About Them Yet — Bloomin’ Beauty

The Weekly Roundup: MBB Posts You Might Have Missed

LANCÔME MUST HAVE RED THE BOOK ON CLASSIC COLOR AND SHINE
BEFORE CREATING MINI LES VERNIS IN SHADE 102

Somewhere out there is a bottle of Lancôme’s Mini Le Vernis in Shade 102 looking for a new nail to call home. One of five nail lacquers in the new Lancôme The Golden Hat Foundation Holiday 2011 Collection, it’s a true red-lovers dream, with a creamy finish that matches L’Absolu Rouge Lipcolor in Caprice to a T.

One coat delivers rich, opaque coverage and Swarovski-like shine, and if that wasn’t enough, the brush is just the right width, with firm bristles that don’t splay, making the brush easy to control. Read more…

THE SHEER, SHINY GLOSSES IN THE NEW GLOSSED OVER
PUREOPTIC LIPGLOSS COLLECTION ARE A WORK OF TARTE

Rich holiday reds are so much fun, but sometimes I wanna get low…maintenance with my lip color.

On days like that, I like sets like these. The eight glosses in Tarte’s new $29 limited edition Glossed Over PureOptic Lipgloss Collection make sheer, shiny lip looks as easy as 1-2-3.

Available exclusively at QVC.com, the set includes eight 0.04-oz. travel-size PureOptic Glosses (the full-size 0.14-oz. ones cost $21 each) in Nectar, Nude, Pink Blush, Coral, Warm Pink, Nude Pink, Mauve and Berry.

Ironically, Tarte describes these as pigmented and rich on their website, but on my lips, all eight shades? Not so vivid. Even the brightest one here, Coral, looks rather sheer to me, and increasingly so as I smack my lips a few times. Read more…

NAILS WILL SPARKLE LIKE A DISCO BALL
WEARING DEBORAH LIPPMANN’S HOLIDAY 2011 COLLECTION

Not even strobe lights could compete with the glare from the glitterific shades in Deborah Lippmann’s latest collection of nail lacquers. I hope you’re ready to pump up the jam, love, because this disco ball’s droppin’, haaay! It’s time to hit the dance floor with Deborah’s holiday collection.

This ode to sparkle and shine, available now, contains six separate nail polishes, four limited edition and two permanent shades ($16-18 each), and the $42 three-piece Get This Party Started set (with full-size bottles).

Today my nails took four of the individual polishes and the entire Get This Party Started set out for a joy ride. With their fun flecks of glitter and rich metallic finishes, these colors are just begging to be worn on a dance floor. Read more…

BECCA MINERAL BLUSH IN WILD HONEY CREATES
SWEET CHEEKS THAT NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE

It was a dark and stormy night…

Wait — no it wasn’t. Not even close. It was actually a Lost Weekend earlier this fall, and matte Becca Mineral Blush in Wild Honey ($32) was there.

The sweet cheeks this pigmented peachy nude powder blush creates are always in style, but they feel like they hail from a kinder, gentler time, a time when afternoons meant studying at the library after school, and your cheeks would flush at a smile from your crush or a single word like, “Hi.” Read more…

TARTE PUTTIN’ ON THE GLITZ IS
GREAT IN A CLUTCH

Indecisiveness doesn’t go well with Tarte’s new holiday kit. Nope, the $48 Puttin’ on the Glitz kit comes with three interchangeable palettes, but you can only fit one of them in the cute silver clutch at a time.

Hmm…

Being a fiend for accessories, my pulse jumped when I heard about this clever limited edition cutie and its 18 powder eyeshadows, highlighter, bronzer and lipgloss. To make it easier to tote the products around (but not all at the same time), Tarte included the clutch, which incorporates a mirror for touch-ups and slots for bills and credit cards. There’s also a tutorial booklet with pretty helpful directions for three different looks. Read more…

THE JUICY COUTURE TROY SURRATT LIP GLOSS
IS QUITE A SWEET TREAT

To dip or not to dip — that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler on the lips to suffer the slings and arrows of bacterial infection, or to take arms against a tin that contains the tastiest glosses I’ve worn in a really long time…

Even though I’d prefer tubes to a tin, my taste buds are like, “We don’t care!” The new glosses in the Juicy Couture Troy Surratt Lip Gloss Set, a collaboration between Juicy Couture and celebrity makeup artist Troy Surratt (whose resume reads like my iTunes workout playlist, and includes the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, Fergie and Janet Jackson), smell and taste just like my movie theater Achilles’ heel…

Gummy bears! Read more…

I’VE GOT ANASTASIA BRIGHT EYES, BIG CITY
IN MY SUBURBAN SIGHTS

My inner urban girl, the one who after 10 years living in the surburbs still tells herself that “it’s only temporary,” loves that Anastasia gives a shout-out to city girls with the name of her $39 Bright Eyes, Big City Brow & Eye Collection kit.

The kit, one of four available now from Anastasia for the holidays, comes with a nice array of eye and brow products put together to create natural, wide-eyed looks.

Anastasia’s known for bodacious brow products, and they’re my favorite pieces in this kit. With the brow/eye powders, gel, tweezers and mini brow brush, perfect brows are just a minute or two away. Read more…

SKINCARE FOR THE CHANGING SEASONS
5 WAYS TO WINTERIZE YOUR SKIN

I ticked off the tabby the other day when I had to cut short our regular morning walk. There was a chill in the air that I just couldn’t shake — certainly not in the sweatshirt, jeans and flip-flops I’d gotten used to wearing on our little jaunts — and even though the first official day of winter doesn’t arrive for more than a month, Jack Frost was already nipping at my toes.

From here on out, at least for the next few months, it’s cold weather season, and that means dry air, dry skin and cold, cold, cold.

For me it also seems to mean scaly shins and crusty cuticles that get worse and worse every year. Thankfully, I’ve figured out a few ways to keep my skin from staging a revolt as the temperature drops. Here are five ways to winterize your skin care routine. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Once upon a time there lived a very sleepy girl named Karen. Early one Sunday morning, her tabby alarm clock signaled that it was time to wake up, but, as I just mentioned, she was a very sleepy girl. 🙂

“No…” she groaned at the purr-chirping tabby alarm clock. “Need more sleep.”

But the tabby alarm clock was an uncompromising device, a simple machine that operated on gravy and lurvies, and its reserves of both were dangerously low.

The tabby alarm clock triggered its low-power alert. “Mrrrrrowww…”

Wha!? Karen opened an eye that lolled about sleepily, trying to find the source of the annoying sound. It slowly came into focus on an object about one foot —

“MRRRROWWWW!”

Karen jerked awake with a start. The noise was much louder this time.

“Tabs!” she called at the tabby alarm clock. “Let me sleep.” And she plopped back down on her pillow.

…

Silence. She must have triggered the Snooze, so she drifted back to sleep…

The tabby alarm clock processed this data through its central processing unit, which outputted a single word in reply: unacceptable. It surveyed the situation, analyzed the bed-based terrain, and determined the next most logical course of action: physical intervention.

And then it leapt.

Bringing the full force of its 18-pound low-hanging belly to bear on the human’s head, the tabby alarm clock landed with the force of an…18-pound tabby.

“Mrmph!” came the muffled cry as Karen’s hands flew to her face. Her mouth was filled with something. What? It was moving! Alive! What…?

She realized what had happend. “Tabs!”

With its mission accomplished, the tabby alarm clock hopped out of the human’s reach.

“Tabs,” Karen growled, “you need to learn how to use the can opener, because that was not cool.”

Cool. The tabby alarm clock thought it recognized that word. Cool. Yes, very cool. 🙂

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

• Julep Nail Vernis Gayle: When Eggplant Meets Creme — à la peach
• Coconut Oil: Health and Hair Benefits — My Weekend Ramblings
• The Best Teeth Whitener You’ve Never Heard Of! — Beauty Logic
• Guppy Sanding Fruit Extract Nail Polish in #12 — Nihrida
• How to Get a Wet-Finish, Faux-Gloss Lid (aka Glossy Smokey Eyes) — theNotice
• Project Runway: Season 9 Winner Anya Ayoung-Chee on Winning the Fan Favorite Contest — Afrobella
• Learn a Gorgeous, Glowy Holiday Makeup Look — BellaSugar
• Wet n Wild Limited Edition ColorIcon Ice Baby Nail Color Collection Swatches — Lacquered, Painted, Polished
• Fashion Inspiration: The Powerpuff Girls — College Fashion
• How to Highlight Your Facial Features — JennySue Makeup
• Urban Decay Midnight Emergency Kit: It’s the Glitter Bomb.com — Lipglossiping

The Weekly Roundup: MBB Posts You Might Have Missed

MY LAST-MINUTE MAC HALLOWEEN COSTUME,
AND BEWARE THE SHARK CAT!

Shoot, I wasn’t even planning to dress up at all this year, but Tabs insisted that I throw something on, because he didn’t want to be the only kitty on the block without a dressed up assistant/trick-or-treating companion.

I couldn’t bear the thought of hitting up the costume store, since I knew it was gonna be crazy busy, so I busted a Tim Gunn and tried to “make it work” with what I had around the house.

As far as last-minute Halloween getups go, this MAC artist costume was super easy. I slipped on a black dress, fashioned a homemade tag out of a MAC logo I found online and stuck some brushes behind my ear. I also really, REALLY wanted to sling a black brush belt around my waist (like the ones that MAC artists wear at the counter), but I kinda ran out of time. I wore a gold brush belt from the MAC Wonder Woman collection instead. Read more…

GLAM HAS ALWAYS BEEN COOL, BUT BENEFIT TAKES IT A
STEP FURTHER WITH THEIR LATEST MAKEUP KIT FOR EYES, LIPS AND CHEEKS

The power of packaging compels you! The power of packaging compels you!

And for me with Benefit’s new “I’m Glam… Therefore I am” palette ($36), it almost does. I desperately wanted to bond with B’s new kit of mostly cool-toned colors for eyes, lips and cheeks. That way I’d feel good about giving it a permanent place on my dresser, a place where I could gaze lovingly at the adorable illustrated box.

The glam gal featured on the front reminds me of the girls my friends and I would doodle on our notebooks in school, complete with gown, tiara and opera-length gloves, and her step-by-step makeup lessons imprinted on the packaging describe how to use the palette to achieve two distinct looks, one called Daytime Dahling and the other, Evening Goddess. Read more…

A SMASHBOX HOLIDAY 2011 FACE OF THE DAY
WITH THE CLICK YOU’RE IT PALETTE

Because Smashbox bestowed numbers upon the pans of powder eyeshadow and cream liner in their new limited edition Click You’re It kit, following the included tutorial card for the “Golden Smolder” look this afternoon was a little like painting by numbers.

But not exactly. It was like a weird class combining math and art…and I’ve always kinda struggled with one of those disciplines, LOL!

I got a little carried away with the olive green eyeshadow, No. 15 in the palette, so my version of the look turned out more green than gold. I like the outcome, but it definitely didn’t go exactly as I’d planned. Read more…

YOU’RE DESTINED FOR FAME (AND FALLOUT)
WITH THE SMASHBOX BE DISCOVERED HOLIDAY PALETTE

I doubt Hollywood’s even looking for a short, sassy Filipino chick without any acting experience to star opposite Ryan Gosling in an upcoming romantic comedy, but if, perchance, I’m ever stopped by a famous director at Petco and asked to play the wind beneath Ryan’s wings, you can bet I’m putting down those 20 cans of gravy, girl, because we’re going to Hollywood!

Logic places the chances of this happening somewhere below 0.000001%, but ya never know… Maybe the new limited edition Smashbox Be Discovered palette (about $60, from the new Snappy Holidays 2011 collection) will improve my odds. Read more…

THE TARTE LIP SERVICE LIMITED EDITION
LIPSURGENCE COLLECTION AND A SNICKERS-FUELED SUGAR HIGH

Believe it or not, this swatch session for the new Tarte Lip Service Limited-Edition LipSurgence Collection ($29) actually began as something somewhat normal. But then I had two of these tiny Snickers bars (because it’s physically impossible to have just one).

And then it sort of went downhill from there. Read more…

HAPPY NOSES MAKE FOR HAPPY HOLIDAYS WITH THE BENEFIT
CRESCENT ROW LIMITED EDITION SET

Benefit’s at it again this year, adding fragrant fuel to the fire that is my current obsession with petite perfume bottles, by taking us down another holiday trip down Crescent Row. Their new $36 Crescent Row Limited Edition Set bundles together four of the line’s 0.43-oz. (they’re small but cute) eau de toilettes.

Even though the four fragrances in this year’s set look and seem more to me like spring and summer scents than fragrances for winter and fall, I still like them all. Fragrance is a very personal thing, of course, and opinions will vary, but these four last all day long on my skin and remain pleasant as the notes evolve. Read more…

MISS PIGGY FOR MAC COLLECTION
SWATCHES AND PICS

When I was four, my favorite thing on television was The Muppet Show. I remember sitting in front of our set and praying I wouldn’t have to get up to fix the bunny ears on top of the TV, because I didn’t want to miss a single second.

I especially loved the two old dudes in the balcony who made fun of everyone, the adorable Fozzy bear, the Swedish Chef (“Bork! Bork! Bork!”) and of course, the diva of all divas, Miss Piggy.

How could you not love a glamorous pig in high heels, pearls and opera-length gloves? Read more…

TAKE OUT YOUR DANCING SHOES FOR THE TARTE
THE STARLET LIMITED-EDITION MAKEUP VANITY

My neighbors probably don’t need another reason to think I’ve completely lost my mind, but that didn’t stop me from giving them another one today.

Since they already know that I take my cat out for walks on a leash, snap pictures of myself in the front yard, drive to the grocery store wearing false eyelashes, and periodically leap like this in the street, I figured heck — I have nothing else to lose. Might as well take pics of myself dancing in front of the windows while I blast Footloose and try on Tarte’s new The Starlet Limited-Edition Makeup Vanity ($52). Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen